71year old Odisha farmer dies of ‘shock’ due to crop damage

BERHAMPUR: A 71-year-old farmer of Chhatrapur block in Ganjam district has allegedly died of shock after seeing the damage to his paddy crop caused by the recent unseasonal rains.

P Iswar Reddy of Katuru village under Bipulingi panchayat reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest and was admitted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar where he died on Saturday.

Family members said Iswar, a marginal farmer, had grown paddy over five acre of land including three acre of his own land and the rest on share-cropping basis. While his paddy was being harvested on Friday, Iswar reportedly collapsed in the field after seeing the damage to his crop. He was rushed to Chhatrapur hospital and later shifted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital at Berhampur. As his condition did not improve, he was shifted to a hospital in Bhubaneswar where he breathed his last during treatment, said Iswar’s son P Chitaranjan.